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Abstract

Research has demonstrated that mental health interventions for women who have experienced
intimate partner violence are lacking. Moreover, mental health interventions are generally not
adapted or developed for culturally diverse peoples, and therefore may be ineffective and
potentially re-traumatizing. Conceptualizations of health, well-being and illness are often Western
and Eurocentric, and may marginalize other ways of knowing. While this is not the case for all
diverse individuals who engage in therapy, the research literature has suggested that it may be the
case for many. As such, the current project proposed to develop a culturally competent group
mental health intervention for women in northwestern Ontario who are surviving the emotional
and psychological effects of intimate partner violence. Considering the limited number of such
interventions, and the paucity of outcomes research, a scoping review was completed of mental
health interventions for women of colour survivors of intimate partner violence (Chapter Two).
This also included engaging with community members in Thunder Bay, Ontario to gather
information about the needs of this particular population (Chapter Three), and integrating this
information with best practices for working with typical psychological/emotional consequences of
intimate partner violence, creating the Healing the Whole Self model (Chapter Four and Therapy
Manual). After the model was developed, it was implemented and evaluated at a community
mental health centre in Thunder Bay, Ontario (Chapters Five and Six), and the model was
disseminated at a full-day training workshop (Chapter Seven). This dissertation depicts a process
of community-based research initiated to fill a gap in services, ensuring quality and effectiveness
of services, and examining other such services to gain a better understanding of culturally-based
and –competent practices.